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VICTORIA -- Premier Christy Clark’s government on Friday dramatically altered the course of negotiations with B.C.’s teachers, serving notice that the employer must abandon previous instructions and now focus on reaching the 10-year agreement Clark promised during the election campaign.

“I am writing to advise that the recently re-elected Liberal government campaigned on a platform that included the commitment ‘ ... to immediately begin discussions with BCPSEA and the B.C. Teachers’ Federation to achieve a 10-year collective agreement,’ after the election,” deputy minister of education James Gorman wrote in a letter to union president Susan Lambert.

In a similar letter to the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA), Gorman said that organization “should expect to receive a letter rescinding the previous bargaining direction letter and replacing it with one more reflective of the newly elected government’s priorities ....

“The parties may wish to reconsider their upcoming bargaining dates until further direction is received,” he continued.

For three months, the two sides have been quietly negotiating a deal under the government’s co-operative gains mandate that would have lasted at least two years and possibly three. Talks adjourned during the election campaign but were slated to resume Tuesday.

The BCTF contract expires June 30.

Before the election, Clark had outlined plans for a 10-year deal with teachers but was immediately rebuffed by Lambert, who called the proposal ludicrous. Contacted Friday at a hotel where she was attending a union meeting, Lambert indicated she has not warmed to the idea since then.

“This is very disrespectful of hard-working teachers,” she said of the directive, adding she was particularly annoyed that she had been given no heads-up by the ministry and only found out about the letter when The Vancouver Sun called her for comment.

“It’s not good news,” she said. “It doesn’t bode well.”

But Silas White, BCPSEA vice-chairman, said the letter wasn’t a surprise because the proposal for a 10-year deal was part of the Liberals’ election platform.

Clark mentioned it again postelection and said on Thursday that voters had given her a mandate to push ahead.

“We are going to find labour peace in our classrooms,” she said in an open address to her caucus.

“If teachers had agreed to that (deal) 10 years ago, they’d all be making more money today because they’ve lagged behind the average settlement for the public sector,” she added later Thursday.

“We’re a long way away from getting a 10-year agreement but if that’s where we get to, it would mean more money for teachers.”

Her 10-year plan, announced in January, included salary increases for teachers linked to agreements in other major public-sector unions. White said that holds more promise than the co-operative gains mandate, which allowed wage hikes only if school boards could find savings elsewhere to cover the cost. But he noted full details won’t be known until a new education minister is appointed.

He said the bargaining that has occurred since February has not been a waste of time because the parties discussed other matters besides salary and length of term. One of the most controversial negotiating issues this year is class size and composition, which is back on the bargaining table for the first time since the Liberals stripped it from the BCTF contract in 2002.

Clark’s 10-year plan would place such matters in the hands of a new education policy council consisting of representatives from the union, school boards and government.

Don McRae, who remains education minister until a new cabinet is named, was not made available for comment on Friday.

Patti Bacchus, chairwoman of the Vancouver board of education, said she’s not going to be quick to judge Clark’s latest move.

Referring to the premier’s unexpected election victory, Bacchus said: “She surprised us before so I’m not going to say this will be a disaster because I just don’t know....Maybe she has something to offer (teachers).”

While the premier appeared focused on BCTF negotiations, the union representing 27,000 K-12 support workers is holding strike votes around the province. Negotiations between the BCPSEA and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) broke down in April because the union’s request for a two-per-cent annual increase was deemed impossible under the co-operative gains mandate.

CUPE spokesman Bill Pegler said his members, who haven’t had a pay increase since 2009, will prepare for job action when schools open in the fall if they can’t get a fair settlement before then.

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Teacher talks must now focus on 10-year deal, Christy Clark orders

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